Podio is a great platform for organising and collaborating on internal projects. It's also really good for working with people outside of your organisation...but for one thing (one BIG thing): not everybody 'gets it'. It's inevitably frustrating when you know you have an awesome way of centrally sharing information and communicating about your project, yet clients, partners or suppliers will often revert back to the comfort of the lowest common denominator - and that's good old email.

Let's not dive too deep into the reasons why this happens, suffice to say that, just because Podio is important to you, it doesn't mean it's important to them. I know! ("what, you mean the world doesn't revolve around my business?").

So, you're back to managing email as best you can. Traditionally, that has meant copying and pasting emails into the comments thread in Podio, setting up 'email to item' rules, or using the somewhat idiosyncratic earlier version of GlobiMail. Many folks just couldn't get along with it, and it felt like trying to plug a major feature gap in Podio, with... well, something too small, the wrong shape, and not quite fit-for-purpose.

That has emphatically changed, with the latest upgrades to GlobiMail. The product management team has now added the ability to compose new email messages to Podio contacts and replies to incoming emails, directly in the browser. This removes the need for mailto links opening the default client, and keeps users focused in their current context (though you do have the choice to launch your chosen mail client).

Furthermore, they have also added the ability to create boilerplate canned responses, allowing you to answer emails with complex common responses with three clicks. It couldn't get any simpler.

Needless to say, the folks at GlobiMail are keen for you to go back and give the revised version a try. We would concur that it's well worthwhile, and could be a much-needed panacea to the malaise of mail-less Podio.